Orlando Fast Food Critic – Page 12 – Sharing my food experiences with you.

Chicken Now (Florida Mall)

Food Quality: 4/10
Food Quantity: 4/10
Cleanliness: 5/10
Atmosphere: 3/10
Service: 1/10
Price: $6-$9

Chicken Now replaced the Chick-Fil-A in the Florida Mall food court. I expected it to be a similar establishment. While both places serve chicken, that’s about the only similarity they share. Chicken Now is overpriced. The chicken was overcooked, leaving it dry and chewy. They tried to charge me $0.25 when I asked for sauce for the chicken fingers, but when I protested saying that I never received any, they finally caved into letting me have it for free. They provide no ketchup for the french fries. Luckily, I was able to walk over to Charley’s Grilled Subs (a much better place to eat in the food court) to get some ketchup. This place is a complete rip off. I asked for a refill on my fountain drink, and was charged $0.50. Only, the cashier didn’t open the register to deposit the money, but a drawer underneath. It didn’t occur to me to question it at the time, but something felt odd. I later realized that being located in the Florida Mall, a high traffic tourist area, employees either are falsely charging customers for refills, stealing from the customers, or correctly charging customers, and pocketing the money, stealing from their employer.

This place should be avoided like the plague. While there is no shortage of bad places to eat in a mall food court, the place is the worst of the worst, and the fact that they’re stealing from their customers or employers seals the deal for me. I will never eat at this place again.

Brick & Fire

Food Quality: 6/10
Food Quantity: 8/10
Cleanliness: 7/10
Atmosphere: 6/10
Service: 6/10
Price: $6-$10

Brick & Fire serves up brick oven pizza, as well as the usual fare of Italian cuisine. Their pizza is cheesy, really cheesy. I normally like extra cheese, but I didn’t even ask for it here, and it felt like a ton of cheese. It was too much cheese to enjoy the pizza. It might have been better if the pizza was cooked a little longer making the cheese crispier. One thing I found odd about the restaurant is that it is a sit down restaurant, you have a server take your order and bring your food to you, but the drinks are self serve. I guess you could look at it as nice that you don’t have to wait for refills, but the mix of service and self-service creates an inconsistent experience. The food here wasn’t terrible, but not my cup of tea. I wouldn’t tell someone to avoid this place, but I wouldn’t recommend it either. There are plenty of good pizza places in Orlando that you don’t have to eat at this one.

Torta El Rey

Food Quality: 7/10
Food Quantity: 8/10
Cleanliness: 5/10
Atmosphere: 4/10
Service: 8/10
Price: $3-$5

Torta El Rey looks like it is in an old Checkers building. Located in the heart of Orange Blossom Trail, it has bars on the windows, and only outdoor seating. Don’t go here for the atmosphere. Do go here for the $0.50 tacos (chicken or steak). I got 3 chicken tacos (with cheese, onions, and cilantro) and a 32oz drink for less than $5. The chicken is a mixture of white and dark meat, but they were surprisingly good. This place is definitely worth trying, but you might want to get it to go.

Fat Fish Blue

Food Quality: 8/10
Food Quantity: 8/10
Cleanliness: 7/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Price: $8-$12

Fat Fish Blue, located in Pointe Orlando, offers New Orleans style food, but not necessarily authentic New Orleans cuisine (not that this is a bad thing). Start off with some appetizers because they have some excellent options. I tried the fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, and corn bread, they were all great. I was surprised that the fried pickles were spears rather than slices. I have to say I like slices more, but these were still good. I enjoyed the fried green tomatoes, but it was my first time ever having them, so I don’t have anything to draw for comparison. The corn bread was like a cake, and I could just as easily have had it for dessert.

Their burgers and sandwiches are pretty good. They come with sweet potato chips, sprinkled with brown sugar, a much welcomed change compared to the french fries or potato chips you get at most places. The chips were sweet, and a great compliment to the sandwiches.

Fat Fish Blue is attached to the new Orlando Improv, which makes it a great place to have dinner and a show. They have a full bar, so you can have dinner, a couple drinks, and a show, making a full night of it. Prices are slightly higher than what you would pay at similar establishments, but that’s mainly because of it being in Pointe Orlando. This is still a great place to eat, and an easy place to make an event of the night.

Smokehouse BBQ

Food Quality: 6/10
Food Quantity: 7/10
Cleanliness: 7/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Price: $6-$10

Smokehouse BBQ is in the old Blackwater BBQ location on south Orange Ave. There has been a change of ownership, management, and a bulk of the staff. During the transition, something must have been lost, because Smokehouse BBQ does not hold up to it’s predecessor. I had the beef brisket, which was a bit dry, unlike Blackwater BBQ. The sides are still good, and the sauce is delicious, enough to make up for the dry meat. It’s still a decent place to get some barbecue, but not what it once was.